This invention relates to apparatus for processing film.
One diagnostic method which is increasingly employed in hospitals, utilizes a wide film strip to record a sequence of x-ray images during a medical procedure. Typically, 105 millimeter film is utilized which may not have sprocket holes along the edges, and the images extend to nearly the edges of the film. The exposed film is usually processed in a leaderless roll machine that is designed primarily for sheet film. Such processing can harm the film in that the rollers which must firmly grasp the film to move it through the machine, often produce small areas of damage to the film emulsion, which is especially detrimental where the images are small. The emulsion is highly susceptable to scratching when it is being developed, but becomes resistant to damage after development and drying. The typical processing machine is usually operated at less than optimum conditions, with the immersion time, chemical activity levels, and temperatures often being far from optimum. Such operation is largely due to the fact that personnel responsible for maintaining the processing machines in hospitals often cannot maintain the machines at optimum conditions. A processing machine which could move a film strip in an accurately controlled manner through tanks of processing chemicals with minimal damage to the film emulsion, and which assured close to optimum operating conditions with minimal maintenance, would permit the production of film strips with very clear images in a hospital environment.